Testing the Limits

The mood at the school was obviously more dismal in the morning. Severus sat at his throne above them all as the students filed in for breakfast. His robes were a classic black with a high stiff collar, as per usual of Snape's wardrobe. Normally the effect of the trailing black cloak made him feel powerful, and the length of the sleeves and collar made him feel impenetrable. Today, Severus felt that they only symbolized the oppression that was not only his, but the students of Hogwarts as well.

As the students filed in, Snape noticed that the Carrows had already begun exercising a militaristic like rule over the school. Each house was brought into the hall in columns, four across, and led to their table. The first house presented before the staff table was Slytherin and the last Hufflepuff, Ravencalw and Gryffindor falling second and third respectively. It was an obvious declaration of the students that the Carrow's valued the most and those they valued the least. The new order seemed to please only the Slytherins, though a shocking few of their number even looked remotely proud.

Snape had never felt himself sink so lowly into a mood as he was in now. Though his face remained blank and disinterested, his heart hammered with suffocating anger. All the power he had been promised, all the power he would have used to protect Hogwarts had escaped his hands. Now, with the Carrow's positioning themselves as his left and right hand, he was also terribly alone. Snape could not even rely upon familiar faces from the teaching staff to aid him. McGonagall had been severely restrained in her duties, along with all other professors who would present any threat or chance of rebellion.

Humorously enough, Severus' mind floated back four years to the speech Dumbledore had given at the start of term feast. He had advised students that 'happiness could be found in the darkest of places, if one only remembered to turn on the light.' That was a message Snape now hoped his students remembered. They would need it in a time like this.

Ginny Weasley was filing into the Great Hall with the remaining members of her house. Gryffindor had been greatly depleted over the summer, with the ban on muggleborn students in effect. Also, many parents had chosen to keep their children home, learning who the new headmaster was. Now Gryffindor house, which had once been so proud and mighty, seemed to have the fewest number of returning students. Even during the sorting this year, there had been an unusually low number of new Gryffindors.

Sitting beside Neville, Ginny looked about her. There were few friendly and joyous faces at the tables. This time last year, students were eagerly talking as they ate, catching up on the previous summer and making plans for the coming year. Now they had fallen silent, only whispered conversation was heard about the hall.

"It's worse than I thought." Ginny growled, her anger towards the new administration boiling. "Everyone's crushed."

"Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini look pleased." Neville noted, nodding in the direction of the Slytherin table. Ginny followed the direction of his nod and was met with a smug grin from Goyle. Rolling her eyes at him, Ginny turned back to face Neville.

"They can look pleased all they want. I don't give two shits about them." She said firmly, trying to keep her fiery temper controlled. "I care about those who need our help. They're more important."

Ginny turned back to face her porridge, which she began to stab at viciously. Concerned, though not too concerned to say anything, Neville looked down at his own food, marvelling at how even their meals seemed sadder. Though neither the variety nor the quality had changed, the joy that used to go into making each dish wonderful had disappeared. This observation would have disheartened or perhaps broken a younger Neville. However, Neville had grown up a lot over the summer. He had learned what it meant to be part of something and had matured since the start of the D.A. He now felt empowered to bring the life back to the school.

No longer wishing to spend his time eating, Neville rose from the table and marched towards the back of the Great Hall, making for the doors. Before he could exit, a body stepped in front of him. Alecto Carrow sneered at Neville and tried to draw himself up to be taller and more intimidating. Neville, who had physically grown also, was eye to eye with the Dark Arts professor.

"Going somewhere, Ugly?" Alecto sneered.

Neville couldn't bite back the retort that escaped his mouth. "Mirror on my face, is there?"

Alecto's jaw seemed to have stopped working for a moment. It hung wide, gaping at the insolence from such a timid looking boy. The entire hall had now fallen silent, watching this exchange with interest.

"What's your name?" Alecto hissed, turning quite scarlet.

"Longbottom, Neville Longbottom." Neville replied without hesitation. He saw a slight recognition in Carrow's eyes. It seemed as if Alecto might have remembered that last name from Neville's parents.

"You're one of them then." Alecto tsked, shaking his head in disgust.

Neville nodded proudly, "Rather be one of them then one of you."

"You'll be joining your girlfriend in detention tonight." Alecto smirked.

Neville shrugged. "Didn't have any plans anyways."

His laid-back attitude seemed to annoy Carrow even more. "Good, you can visit Mr. Filch for the rest of the week."

Neville shrugged again, wondering if this was some new twitch brought on by adrenaline rushes. "Okay," He said, feeling much braver than he had in a while. "I'm going now."

"Where too?" Alecto pressed once more, bringing their conversation full circle.

"Library," Neville replied, "Doubt you'd know it. It's full of books."

Before Alecto could work up another response, Neville brushed passed him, leaving the Great Hall to dissolve into whispers. A few hands came together in an appreciative clap, but they were silenced by the professors. As he left, Neville looked up to the head table and saw McGonagall give him a small grin.

Luna stood in front of a large bare wall on the seventh floor of the castle. To her left was a tapestry of trolls and to her right a suit of armour. It seemed odd to most people that this area had been left so bare. But to those who knew there was a very good reason. This stretch of wall belonged to one of the entrances to the Room of Requirement. This was the room that the D.A had hosted all of their meetings in during previous years. Now it was soon to be employed for the same purpose.

Closing her eyes Luna began to sway slowly in front of the blank space, willing the entrance to appear. Her swaying soon became wilder, rocking about in a large space with arms flailing freely. This was a practise she had learned from her father. The swaying helped Luna to concentrate. To open the Room of Requirement all one had to do was concentrate on what they needed.

It warmed Luna's heart to remember that Neville had been the first to discover this room. Though many people did not see it, Neville was a very special boy. Luna had never met someone as brave or kind or loyal as Neville. Like Luna, Neville was a bit of an outcast. People tended not to understand them as easily. During their time in the D.A. Neville and Luna had bonded, becoming close friends. Now it was not uncommon for them to spend a Saturday together in Hogsmede or sit together in study hall.

Having friends was still a new concept for Luna. Like Hermione, she had been very lonely in her childhood. Her parents were eccentric, but built a happy home just on the property that they owned. Luna didn't spend much time with the local children since they all thought she was weird. Instead Luna had spent most of her time with her mother, watching her work spells and preform amazing advanced magic. After her mother died, Luna had been left with just her father. It was harder to connect with him than it had been her mother, even though she cared about him deeply. Soon enough Xenophilius had become Luna's only friend.

But after the forming of the D.A., Luna suddenly found herself surrounded by people she could consider friends. The summer after her fourth year, Luna had painted the faces of her friends on her ceiling. It had been one of her favourite summer projects ever. Luna felt like having her friends watching over her kept them with her the entire year, not just when they were physically present.

Standing outside the Room of Requirement, Luna was now joined by one of these faces. Neville Longbottom was standing beside Luna when she opened her eyes. The door to the Room of Requirement had also appeared. Smiling wistfully, Luna turned to Neville.

"Hello Neville," She said softly, "How was breakfast?"

"Short," Neville replied, sounding a little annoyed. "I was just about to come open this up."

Luna hesitated. "I could leave if you wanted to open it on your own."

"No, its alright." Neville said with a small smile. "I wonder what's waiting for us in there."

Without speaking, Luna took Neville's hand, sliding her small fingers between his. Looking down, Neville felt a blush creep up his neck. Girls generally didn't hold his hand. He was Neville Longbottom after all. Most people thought they'd get some rare disease if they touched him. But Luna didn't even seem fazed. That motion had seemed so natural. Smiling shyly, Neville followed her lead as Luna walked towards to Room of Requirement.

As always the room had provided them with exactly what they needed. The space it had given them was carnivorous. Stone arched ceilings reached hundreds of feet above their heads. The room had seemed to grow as well, stretching to be approximately the size of a small football (soccer) pitch. A long low wooden bench ran along the edge the room, covering three of the four walls. Colourful cushions dotted the bench. The fourth wall, directly across from them, was dedicated to a massive fireplace which was nearly as tall as Neville was.

"Wow." Neville breathed taking a look around. "This is spectacular."

"It looks like we're going to have a lot of people in the D.A this year." Luna said, noticing that the space was much larger than it had been at the first forming.

"That's a good thing. But there's only three of us right now." Neville pointed out.

"The coins," Luna said suddenly. "We can try contact everyone through the coins. I still check mine all the time."

Neville stared at her for a moment, awe dancing across his face. "You still have yours?"

"Of course," Luna said matter-of-factly.

Neville reached into the pocket of his slacks and pulled out the shining gold galleon. "Me too."

Seeing Neville holding his galleon made Luna smile. Her entire face lit up as she looked at him. Then she dove into her own back and retrieved her galleon. Luna had kept her galleon because of what the D.A. had meant to her. Sure, she had learned magic there to protect her. But Luna had gained so much more. She suspected the same of Neville. Neither one of them had known what it meant to be accepted before the D.A. They had never been able to do anything to help Harry, Ron, and Hermione either. But the D.A. gave them all that. Neville and Luna were both truly loyal to the D.A and all her remaining members.

"How are we going to recruit?" Neville mused, still staring at Luna in pure adoration. "If they allow Hogsmede trips, they'll be monitored."

Luna smiled the answer to that on her lips. "We talk to people. You know how fast news spreads here. If we talk to the right people then we can get the word out and keep it away from Snape as well."

"I guess that'll work." Neville nodded. "But I can't start tonight. Ginny and I have detention."

"Detention is a good place to talk to people." Luna replied simply. She dropped Neville's hand and walked slowly across the room. Once in the center of it, Luna flung her arms out at her sides and began to spin. Faster and faster she span, until she was a blur of blond and blue. Neville watched her, confusion crossing his face.

"Luna?" He asked as she finally began to slow.

Luna looked over at Neville, smiling lightly. "It's the dance my mother taught me to ward of negative energy."

Neville didn't know much about dance, nor was he a particularly good dancer, but that didn't look like any dance that he had ever heard of. Nodding slowly as if he agreed with her, Neville walked closer. "I guess we had better get to class," He said, having heard the bell outside.

Luna giggled. "I almost forgot class." Picking up her bag, Luna skipped quickly from the room, leaving Neville standing to wonder where someone like her had ever come from.

As expected the days lessons were dismal. All the teachers seemed to be under strict new orders, reminiscent of the Umbridge era. There was no joy in the lesson plans, which had turned incredibly dark. All the classes now taught how magic made wizards superior to muggles and how muggles should be enslaved and muggleborn wizards eradicated from the school. It pained McGonagall to teach her students such garbage, but she knew she had to if she wished to protect them.

After the loss of her closest friend and beloved mentor at the beginning of the summer, McGonagall had tried her best to fulfil his duties. However, the appointment of Snape as headmaster had come as a surprise. As deputy headmistress and one of the most reliable and beloved professors at Hogwarts, something was wrong.

It had been apparent since the moment that Voldemort had lost his power that he would one day return. Now that day was here and Voldemort's powers were nearly at the point they had been at, seventeen years ago. Perhaps his powers were greater now, since Voldemort had an influence over Hogwarts this time. McGonagall was forced only to do her best to protect her student.

Looking out across her class of sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins, McGonagall could not imagine a more diverse group. The Gryffindors were hurting greatly this year, discouraged and depleted. The Slytherin house thrived and gloated, though it really seemed to be only a few select students gloating. One of the main perpetrators was Andros Yaxley, a nephew of the known Death Eater.

Andros was a tall muscular boy, every bit the perfect pureblood specimen. He had long charcoal black hair which was kept tied back with silk ribbons. His eyes, which seemed to protrude cruelly under a harsh brow line were of an artic blue. His jaw was wide and well set and Andros carried himself with the pride of a king. He also had the arrogance of one.

It seemed that during the shift in power at Hogwarts, Andros had developed one mission. He wished to torment all the students who had ever associated themselves with Harry Potter. His first and most obvious target was Potter's former girlfriend, Ginny Weasley, who Andros sat beside now.

McGonagall had kept as close an eye on Andros as she could. However, it seemed that the boy was waiting until after class before he exerted his true nastiness. Unable to do anymore to help the obviously capable Ginny, McGonagall returned to her lesson.

Ginny was staring angrily down at the words on her page, forcing herself to concentrate. However, the obnoxious and overpowering scent of expensive cologne was giving her a headache and making even that menial task nearly impossible. Glaring over at the source of the smell, Ginny rested her eyes on Andros Yaxley with pure contempt in her eyes. It had been a while since she had despised someone as much as Andros. Having him in such close proximity made Ginny wish she could stab her eyes out.

Andros, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying this new seating arrangement. More so, he was enjoying annoying Ginny so visibly. Andros had spent the majority of the class watching Ginny as she gritted her freckle lined jaw together and clenched her teeth. Every so often, she would raise her head and look at him with searing brown eyes that threatened to set fire to his very being if they had held such power. Andros had met each of those burning glances with a coy smile that invited Ginny to do something about it, which of course, she could not.

Now Ginny felt her rope of tolerance growing terribly thin and stretching well past its normal breaking point. If it weren't for the respect she held for McGonagall, Ginny would have struck Andros right then and there. Mercifully, the bell which ended the class soon rang and Ginny was able to collect her belongings and run from that space.

Fuming and feeling very much that she would like to strike something hard, Ginny dissolved into the crowds of people who were also escaping class after the bell. However, she did not gain the time which Ginny required to calm herself in that hall. Before Ginny had reached the corner and the next hall, a haughty voice floated above the usual roar of the students.

"Weasley," Andros called simply, causing many people to stop and turn. Ginny hesitated, but did not turn immediately. "How's your boyfriend doing?"

It was a simple question but it held grave ramifications. Everyone in Hogwarts was aware of the situation between Ginny and Harry. Everyone knew what love had blossomed there and been brutally cut short by fate. Ginny had spent some of her summer days mourning that relationship and the wounds were still fresh, no matter her degree of understanding in Harry's convictions.

"Suspect he'll be caught soon then killed; him, the mudblood and your idiot brother." Andros sneered. He had done enough with that sentence.

Ginny turned sharply on her heel and faced him. The other students had created a barrier on either side and were watching the exchange intently. Ginny could not make out any of their faces, they were all blurs. The only face she saw was Andros'. His haughty sneer and taunting grin hovered in front of her face like a shining hoop in quidditch. Ginny saw her target, clear as day. Without hesitation she drew her wand.

"Good thing no one asked you what you think." Ginny replied, her tone low and dangerous. In response, Andros had drawn his wand also. He had wanted to get a rise out of the Weasley girl and was now achieving it beautifully.

Andros smirked, "Lots of people care actually, my uncle for one."

Ginny narrowed her eyes, walking quickly towards Andros. "Is that a threat?"

"Did it sound like one?" Andros asked, dumbstruck for a moment at how Ginny had managed to achieve a wind machine effect when she walked. Ginny's long ginger hair was flowing freely back over her shoulders and leaving a clear view of her beautiful, yet angry face. Andros was lost for a moment to one of his nightly fantasies.

Andros had been watching Ginny for years now. She was the forbidden fruit he could never taste. Ginny was smart, gorgeous, and headstrong. She was independent and never needed anyone to come to her rescue. Brave and usually one to think with her heart, Ginny was the quintessential Gryffindor. But Andros was the perfect Slytherin. They were just too different. Their families had picked opposing sides in this war and thus kept Andros from what he desired. However, this separation could not quell his nightly fantasies of Ginny finally seeing him as Potter's better and coming to his side.

Andros was brought back to the present by a sharp pain spilling out from the center of his face. Hot liquid was also dripping down from this painful spot. It took Andros only a moment to realize that Ginny had forgot her magical qualities and punched him squarely in the nose, breaking it. Wiping the look of confusion off his face and replacing it with one of rage, Andros turned thunderously to Ginny.

"That was a big mistake." Andros growled, putting a hand gingerly on his throbbing nose. "You'll pay for that one, blood-traitor."

Ginny tossed her hair over her shoulder defiantly. "I'd like to see you make me."

Before Andros could reply, someone stepped in between the two quarrelling teens. To Andros' pleasure and Ginny's dismay, it was Amycus Carrow with a cruel grin on her face. She looked between the two, clearly lording in her power. Last night her brother had the chance to put the Weasley girl in her place and now it was her turn. Smiling down at Ginny, Amycus spoke.

"It seems you're completely incapable of following any rules that Hogwarts has set, Weasley." Amycus said in a rapid and excited whisper, "Which means you've got to be punished. Now it seems that detention isn't much of a deterrent for you. I think I've got a much better idea."

Ginny's eyebrow raise in a question. Amycus pulled her wand free from the sleeve of her robes and pointed it at Ginny's chest. "Crucio," Amycus whispered, and Ginny's world was set on fire.

Instantly she dropped to the floor, screaming and writhing in unimaginable pain. It felt as if every cell in her body was suddenly on fire. Ginny's bones were melting and breaking and shattering all at once. It felt like a thousand little knives were piercing her everywhere. A fire was ravaging her and Ginny shut her eyes against it all, trying to keep herself sane. The pain was so intense that, for the first time, Ginny wanted to give up.

Then, like a sweeping breeze on a hot summer's day, it was gone. The pain was lifted and Ginny could breathe again. Physically, the spell had no effect. Mentally and emotional, it had broken her down. She lay on the cold stone floor, unsure if she was able to move. Amycus leered down at her, her massive grin revealing several broken and yellowed teeth.

"You'll learn respect for the rules, Weasley." Amycus promised. She stepped away from Ginny and swept down the corridor, demanding the students return to their lessons as she did. Slowly, they all began to leave, whispering about what had just happened and how the headstrong Weasley wouldn't last the year if she wasn't careful.

Ginny managed to sit up and finally pulled herself to her feet. Making her way to the side of the corridor, Ginny sank down against one of the walls. She was completely shaken by the power of the spell and the lengths that her new professors were willing to go to. Breathing deeply, Ginny calmed herself down. However, a sickening realization washed over her. If her professor was willing to do that to her for punching a student, what lengths would they go to if the Carrows ever found out about the D.A? It was a question that Ginny hoped she'd never learn the answer to.